Helmet
Helmets are arguably the most crucial gameplay element in Kid Chameleon, as well as the most characteristic feature of the whole game. They are items used by the player to change into several different transformations, each of them allowing the use of its own special abilities. Transformations Helmets are collectible prizes contained in some Prize blocks. By default, the title hero of the game, Kid Chameleon, AKA the Kid, is just a wuss with hardly any powers and little resistance to attacks. By picking up a helmet, he transforms into an enhanced character with greater strength (at least three hit points instead of Kid's default two), an extra feature like a weapon, a new movement, or different stats (movement speed, jump height, hitbox size, etc.). When the kid runs out of hit points with his current helmet, he reverts to his nerd form, and back to his original two hit points. Helmet items Helmets are the only prizes that do not 'expire' shortly after release, However, only one helmet can be released at a time, meaning that if one releases two helmets without picking any, the first one will poof away when the second prize block is bursted. This prevents the players from 'choosing' a transformation until it is too late. Any transformation can pick up a new helmet and switch from any form to another. If you come across the same helmet you're already wearing, you will see your lost hit points restored. Transformations All transformations are designed so that at some point, one and only one of them is able to go through a given scenario, and their pros and cons are carefully compensated. Each one has its own ability, plus different diamond powers. Image:Kid.gif|The Kid: Weak and bulliable. You'll never get away with this in those jeans. Image:Iron_knight.gif|Iron Knight: Tougher and dumber. Able to climb walls (by tapping the "special" button) and reduce the floor to debris. Image:Red_stealth.gif|Red Stealth: Swifter and sharper. Able to jump higher, dig holes and slash the enemy. Image:Berzerker.gif|Berzerker: Mindlessly ruder. Able to ram at enemies or blocks. Image:Maniaxe.gif|Maniaxe: Psychoticly bloodthirstier. Able to bring hell upon foes in tiny sharp-bladed individual packs. Image:Juggernaut.gif|Juggernaut: Larger and cooler. Able to shoot bombs, fit in low crawlspaces and get stuck in rabbit holes. Image:Micromax.gif|Micromax: Tinier and stickier. Able to fit in the deepest sewer pipe or climb up to the highest ceiling. Image:EyeClops.gif|EyeClops: Greener and flashier. Able to reveal invisible blocks and zap meanies to death. Image:Skycutter.gif|Skycutter: Faster and slicker. Able to dash past Murder walls either on the floor or along the roof. Image:Cyclone.gif|Cyclone: Higher and further. Able to just fly to the flag. Bugs Helmet Storage Glitch If you pause and restart round on the exact frame you collect a helmet, you will restart the level as that helmet. Your character sprite will have some altered orange, blue, and gray color scheme. Since the game assumes you will always be Kid after death, the game applies Kid's color palette to whatever helmet you're transforming to. The palette swap does not alter the stats of any helmet, and taking damage or dying will remove effect. You can also achieve this if you die on the same frame you collect a helmet AND are in the first frame of your standing state (in other words, you must have just landed from a jump or came off an incline). The easiest place to do this is on the Cyclone helmet in The Hills Have Eyes, where it will land on a drill block at the foot of an incline. In a 2-player game, you can use the latter method to start any level as any transformation! See the video to the left for a full explanation of helmet storage. Helmet Cancel Glitch If you take damage on the same frame you collect a helmet, you will not lose a hit point before or after the transformation is complete. In a rarer case, the helmet will have no effect and simply vanish from existence! In an extremely rare situation, you can cancel a helmet by jumping off an incline at a specific pixel, and on the same frame the helmet is touched. Music Tempo Refilling one's hit points with the same helmet has an interesting side effect of changing the tempo of the music for many themes. It could get faster or slower, depending on the theme. If you lose the helmet, the music will revert to normal. Trivia There are two jingles in the ROM that are never heard anywhere in the game. To hear them, open the ROM in a hex editor and change the value at address 0x1AE51 to either 0x18 or 0x21. It will be played at the introduction screen. Sounds 0x18 and 0x21 are variations of the same jingle. Could these be evidence of another helmet? During the intro cutscenes, no helmet jingles play when a helmet is collected. Category:Helmets